


A Star Against Monsters In The Dark

by Tadamochi



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Brotherly Affection, Gen, Just Tavvy and Jules being cute brothers, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Oso is the bravest of knights, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 08:19:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9482543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tadamochi/pseuds/Tadamochi
Summary: Lately, Tavvy has been having more trouble than usual sleeping. The monsters seem to have come out of his dreams to haunt him in the dark, forcing him to spend nights afraid of them. Worried about his baby brother's health, Julian does his best to help the little Nephilim.





	

A shadow moving in the dark, silhouettes staring at him from just outside the window.

Octavian Blackthorn was certain that there were monsters in his room. Lurking in the darkness of the night, waiting for him to even dare to slide a foot from under the safety of the blankets to grab his ankle and drag him far away from his home and family.

After being saved from Malcolm Fade’s claws, the youngest Blackthorn’s nightmares had become so vivid that they looked like they had learnt to come out of his head into the real world.

He hugged Oso tightly, burying his face in the soft stuffed toy’s belly and hoping for the moving shadows to disappear.

 _If I don’t look at them, maybe they’ll go away_ , he thought. Octavian usually cried Julian’s name when the demons from the past tormented him in his dreams, but this time it was different. He feared that even whispering would alert the eyes moving just outside of his blanket fort.

The little Nephilim didn’t even know how long he had been awake. His eyelids felt heavy with sleep, but the fear kept him away. What time was it? How many hours had the monster been patiently waiting for him to make a single mistake that would let it take the child?

The more his paranoia grew, the bigger the urge to peek was. When he couldn’t resist it anymore, he looked around one more time and there it was. This time, he heard footsteps getting closer. Octavian gasped, terrified, and the sobs were quick to come out of his mouth.

The sound of the door opening, more footsteps and…

“Tavvy?”

It was Julian’s voice. 

With him there, he wasn’t afraid of making noise anymore, so he cried out loud and called his name. Alarmed, the older Blackthorn rushed to his little brother’s side. The moment he saw Julian’s face, he felt safe again.

Immediately, he clung to his chest and the tears began to wet his t-shirt. Julian didn’t mind at all, he wrapped his arms around the child in a warm and protective hug.

“Did you have another nightmare?” He asked, and after noticing the younger one shaking his head, he added in a soft voice “What was it?”

“T-there was a m-monster” Octavian answered, his voice choking with sobs “A-a very scary monster, Oso a-and I can’t sleep…”

“You didn’t sleep?” Julian sounded worried “It’s almost six am” 

So they had been awake that long. That meant it wouldn’t be much longer until they had to wake up, have breakfast and go to Diana’s classes. Right now, Octavian didn’t want to think about class, he just wanted to stay here with Julian where he knew the monsters couldn’t harm him.

“B-but it didn’t g-go away” he still couldn’t speak in a normal voice, his crying only got worse “It wants to e-eat me”

Julian thought for a moment that there might be some sort of demon, or a spell, haunting his little brother, but then it clicked. This wasn’t a monster, it was a hallucination. He remembered having them after the Dark War, terrifying creatures peeking from the corners and visions staring at him that followed him from his dreams to the real world.

He had hoped, even prayed, that his baby brother would never have to deal with such horrors. But life was hard for the Nephilim, and it had decided to bare its fangs at little Tavvy too soon.

“Nothing is going to eat you, Tavvy” Julian said, rubbing gentle circles on Octavian’s back “I’m here, Oso will protect you too” he took the stuffed animal and pressed it gently to his brother’s cheek _“I am the great bear knight! No monsters will hurt you”_ he said in a high-pitched voice that was supposed to be Oso’s.

Octavian shifted enough to see the bear, which he had forgotten about when he saw his older brother, and caress the soft material it was made of.

“But it’s dark, they are very strong when it’s dark” he argued; at least his voice wasn’t shaking anymore.

Julian moved to switch on the fairy lights around the tent’s ceiling and the tension on Tavvy’s body seemed to fade.

“I will stay here so you can sleep, okay? We’ll leave the lights on, the monsters won’t come” he waited until Octavian nodded to keep talking “You don’t have to go to class or wake up early, but try to sleep”

Julian ruffled his little brother’s brown curls and then he lay down next to him, making himself comfortable. Octavian curled up as close to him as he could, then he closed his eyes and fell in a pitch black dream.

 

When he woke up, he was alone with Oso right where he had fell asleep. The room was filled with light. He could tell by looking at a small digital clock that it was past lunch time.  
Without even bothering to change out of his pajamas, he went downstairs looking for Julian. 

Ty informed him that he was out and probably wouldn’t return until dark. He needed the older brother that was like a mother to him _now_ , not that late.

He spent the rest of the day absent-mindedly playing with his toys and trying to distract himself from what he had seen last night. His other siblings looked worried; nothing they did seemed to cheer up Tavvy.

 

Just a little bit after dinner, he heard the doors of the Institute opening. It had to be Julian. The littlest Blackthorn rushed to the entrance, running so fast that he almost tripped on several occasions.

Julian didn’t even have time to say hi before he had a little kid in a bear onesie hugging his legs.

“Hey Tavvy, everything okay?” Julian said, but he got no answer.

Octavian simply stared at him, not wanting to admit in front of Emma and the others that he was scared of going to sleep. Julian understood and gave him a reassuring smile.

“I think I’m going to take this little champion to bed” he lifted Tavvy up and carried him in his arms towards his bedroom “Emma, can you handle the rest?” he asked before leaving the room, turning his head to his parabatai.

She gave him a thumbs up, meaning that he could take care of his brother. Drusilla told him had Tavvy had already done everything to get ready for bed, so he didn’t need to worry about that either.

 

Going up the stairs, Octavian noticed that Julian was carrying a bag. With curiosity, he kept his eyes on it for a moment before speaking “What’s that?”

“A surprise, you’ll see” he answered.

Now that they were in Tavvy’s room, he put him on the floor and reached for the contents of the bag. Inside was a star-shaped pillow. It was white and obviously handmade, with uneven stitches and an odd shape for a star.

“A pillow?” Octavian said, tilting his head in confusion.

Julian shaked his head “It’s a star, a magical star that makes monsters go away”

The little boy couldn’t fully understand what his big brother meant, but he still took the pillow in his arms when Julian offered it to him.

“Here” he pulled a small cardboard circle and what looked like a glitter gel pen from the bag “Write your name and Oso’s here, so the star knows who to protect”

Octavian sat down, took both objects and did as he was told. He still didn’t get how this was going to work, but he was willing to do anything if it meant not seeing the monsters in the shadows. In big and shaky letters, he managed to write one name on each side of the circle.

“What do I do now?” he asked, even more curious.

“Now we have to put it inside” Julian showed him a small zip on one of the ends of the star, which he opened to put the circle safely inside before zipping it again “It’s almost ready, now you have to ask it to protect you”

Julian guided him to the inside of the blanket fort and fluffed the pillows for him. When Tavvy sat down with the star and Oso next to him, the older Blackthorn turned off the lights and made himself comfortable next to him “Now”

Octavian took a deep breath and said “Star against monsters in the dark, please make the scary monsters go away, don’t let them hurt me or Oso, and please protect me always”

Then, without really thinking about it, he hugged the star tightly against his chest. That’s when he saw it. The pillow started glowing, like a real star in the night sky. Tavvy’s eyes widened with amazement.

It was just a few lights that glowed when you pressed them inside the pillow, but for Tavvy it felt like real magic. A big smile spread on his face, and he kept looking back and forth between Julian and the star.

“Look, Oso! No more monsters will come!” he said, full of happiness.

He truly believed it. 

In these past days he had thought he would never sleep again, fearing that the monsters would kill him in his dreams and in real life. But now, with this star fallen from the sky, he could finally sleep in peace.

Even if life was harsh and he didn’t even think what the future would bring, he was grateful for these little bits of magic in his life that made the dark times brighter. Octavian felt like the luckiest little brother with the best big brother in the entire world.

**Author's Note:**

> I started roleplaying as Octavian last summer some time after reading Lady Midnight, so I decided it was about time I wrote a drabble about him. He is a pure child and I love writing as him. I hope he is safe in the upcoming books, because at this point I am too attached to him.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this short fic. I stayed up until 3am just to write it all in one sitting. Thanks for reading.


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